Conclusion of the 3rd Youth Conference of Patriotic Unity Movement
Today, 3rd Youth Conference of Patriotic Unity Movement (Congress of YBH Youth) is gathering during an important period which is very critical both to our political party and to our country.
Our party has started to use the name “New Cyprus Party” (Κόμμα Νέα Κύπρος) again after its Congress which was on 30th October. From now on, our party will do politics for not only a part of Cyprus but also for whole Cyprus and for all Cypriots. We have started the era that our party will demand and promote equality, freedom, democracy, peace and justice for all people. We will cooperate with the Socialists in Europe and promote the idea to work for a new Cyprus, a new Europe and a new World.
Our Conference highlights that the youth supports the process to achieve our goals which help our party and our country to progress, and develop politics which will make us have the legitimate power, not be decoration in the showroom.
Cyprus problem has passed through important processes such as EU membership and referendum on Annan Plan, now the problem and we have been carried to new points.
The new political standings and the other factors during the recent period in Cyprus can not be separated.
During the Annan Plan, the standings of the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriot political structures have supported the division, chauvinism has raised and especially mistrust between the communities has increased.
These negative consequences have occurred not only due to the practices of the Greek Cypriot political parties but also due to the practices of Turkish Cypriot political parties before the referendum and especially due to their practices after the referendum.
The chauvinist, separatist, not modern approach of the some Greek Cypriot Powers can not be accepted. However, it is a mistake to symbolize this approach just by naming some people.
Today, it is a mistake to personalize the comments of the some people in Greek Cypriot Administration and do politics by considering these comments.
In north, we have experienced such an example after the elections in December 2003.
It does not make any difference to change the people in the government if this regime is still there, and we have understood once more that statue quo is still quite strong.
As we have stated before, it is the responsibility of all socialists who fight for freedom to urgently change not only supporter of the statue quo, to change the whole statue quo.
It is impossible to change the regime by the capitalists who are the supporters of the current system and whose main ambitions are to gain more benefits. Also, it is impossible to change the regime by the social democrats who say that we will make this system more humanitarian and impossible to change the regime by orthodox communists who sacrifices freedom, democracy and equality due to the centralized politics, party discipline and party hierarchy.
These kind of political structures either provide the continuity of the current statue quo or create other kind of new anti-democratic, authoritarian statue quo.
YBH Youth will work to make a revolutionary change in the regime which will demand and promote freedom, equality, involvement, democracy, anti-militarism and peace…
Now, Cyprus is EU member, so all Cypriots are EU citizens. Therefore, we have the same rights as the European Citizens.
Even though the conservative structures do not agree, we will continue to use the Cyprus Republic and European citizenship rights for the Turkish Cypriot Youth. Therefore, YBH Youth is a member of Cyprus Youth Council for International Cooperation (CYCIC) and Youth Board of Cyprus Advisory Committee, and has cooperation with National Youth Agency of Cyprus.
Our Conference points out the importance of having cooperation and memberships, and asks our members to contribute more for these relations.
Our activity since 2003
YBH Youth has participated in different projects in Cyprus and abroad from February 2003 to today.
During this period YBH Youth has organized various conversation sessions, seminars and has published various publications to involve the youths of our Country. Also YBH Youth has actively taken part in and participated in activities during the period in which both the Cyprus Problem was at its peak and during the “elections” that took place in December 2003. In this period YBH Youth did not confine itself only to the Cyprus Problem, they protested the violence which continues in Iraq and Palestine by either organizing rallies alone or by participating in other activities and therefore sending out a message of solidarity, through the activities organized in Cyprus, to all of the large anti-war protests organized world-wide.
Together with youth organizations from all around Cyprus, YBH Youth carried out various activities and published joint announcements both here and abroad.
In the meantime YBH Youth was the first Turkish Cypriot youth organization to become a full member of the Cyprus Youth Council (CYCIC). YBH Youth also became a member of Cyprus Youth Board Advisory Committee in this period. In this way YBH Youth went one step ahead of other youth organizations by actively taking part in phase of European youth organizations practicing politics by materializing its ideas concretely…
In this context, YBH Youth participated in the White Paper Debate in Crete, the European Youth Forum Council of Member in Rome and the celebrations of expansion with the contribution of the all European Youths in Germany in the Cyprus Delegation.
Together with all of these efforts YBH Youth continued its activities in connection to near past experiences, under two main headings; the first main heading being “we will not allow them to be forgotten” by continuing to commemorate the progressive patriotic Cypriots that were murdered in 1958, 1962 and 1964. Furthermore we continued to give the message of “No more blood for war and nationalism” by commemorating the innocent civilian people who were killed in 1974 with activities organized both in the north and south of the Island. These activities deeply disturbed the representatives of the regime. An event that was organized in July last year was prevented last year by the mobilization of paramilitary organizations. We were able to carry out a bi-communal press statement at the entrance of Murataða (Maratha) Village. This year however, upon those playing the role of the authority, not giving Greek Cypriots permission due to the excuse that they were not citizens, protesting this situation we carried out a bi-communal demonstration and made another press statement defending last years views at Ledra Palace.
Conclusion
Our conference has been successfully completed during a time that our party and Cyprus problem are passing through an important period of time and serious improvements are expected.
The name of our Youth Organization has been changed from YBH Youth to New Cyprus Party Youth (YKP Youth) after the discussions in conference and also it has been decided to change the statute according to this name change.
Our conference also decides on an amendment in our statute that all EU citizens living in Cyprus can be a member of our youth organization in order to create a movement of Cyprus socialist youth and also and also institutionalize Pan Cypriot’s political structures.
The Conference also decides that the formation of a socialist youth movement which will include the participation all Cypriots will be the main goal for the next period. That’s why conference decides that each organ of the youth organization should work seriously for this goal and contribute as much as possible.
Our struggle against regime has not declined; in contrast it has been more urgent and powerful in this new period.
Therefore, the struggle against regime to change the status quo instead of the change of the ones in status quo is still standing in front of us.
As being the citizens of an EU member country, the creation of a political struggle in EU will be one of our goals in this new period.
For this purpose, the appropriate organs of organization should set one of its goals to cooperate with the socialist and green youth organizations which have similar politics with us and to work to attend the pre-established alliances in the world, especially in EU.
We should take international solidarity seriously not only to change the regime in Cyprus but also for struggle against neo liberal politics. Therefore, it will be one of our goals to strengthen our relations with the socialists and greens who organize global resistance against global attack and state "another world is possible" and also to support them in their struggle as much as we can in coming period.
With the values and activitism we have created since 1998, we have been a youth organization which expresses itself not only via words but also with the actions on streets, in life and in practices. We have a youth organization which does not just follow the determined agenda; we can also know how to make ours.
Of course we had some weakness and some deficiencies. Especially, it is in our agenda to find a solution for the difficulty that we need to reach bigger masses.
The slogan of our first conference is still keeping its validity in spite of everything, "There is hope, we have it".
We are keeping our hope, consistency and resistance alive because:
Another Cyprus is possible!
Another Europe is possible!
Another world is possible!
YBH Youth Executive Board
6 November 2004